Hi! I'm Alex, a Digital Artist with over 20 years of experience in post-production and advertising.

Experimenting with the new tools emerging in this new world of AI that we’ve all suddenly found ourselves in, I created banapi.art.

🎨 What is it?
Banapi is a simple but effective tool for generating and editing images based on a node system. Right now, it runs on Google models (Gemini/Nano) under the hood, but I plan to add others in the future.

I started this project purely for myself, to make a convenient tool I could use in my daily work. But, it seems to have turned out pretty cool, so I decided to open it up to the public and continue development seriously.

🔑 How does it work? (BYOK)
Since I'm a solo developer and don't have exclusive access to Google servers, Banapi works on a BYOK (Bring Your Own Keys) basis.
This means you use your own API keys. It gives you full transparency: you personally control your limits and costs.

Important: Your keys are stored exclusively locally on your computer (in your browser) and are never sent anywhere else. I don't have access to them, so full security and anonymity are guaranteed.

🚀 Project Status
We are currently in Open Beta.

I'll be honest: in the future, I have plans to introduce a small subscription for advanced features (to support the project) — assuming, of course, that people actually find this tool useful :) This is an unusual experiment for me.

And because you're here early, helping us battle bugs and providing feedback, we plan to reward our earliest beta testers with special perks or massive discounts when the time comes. 😉

But for now, access is completely free.

Test it, break it, generate. Welcome to the club!

Please share bugs and suggestions — feedback from real users would really help bring Banapi to perfection!
👉 https://banapi.art/

🔑 About API Keys

1️⃣ Banapi has a Sandbox mode enabled by default. This means you can check out how the node system works without entering any data (nodes will simply generate empty placeholders).

2️⃣ To actually start generating, you need to enter your own API keys.
You can create them here: https://aistudio.google.com/app/api-keys

And here is a simple tutorial on how to do it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNceRnJuCX0

These links are also available in the Banapi settings.

🎁 Now for the best part.
If you are setting up keys for the first time, Google gives a $300 welcome trial bonus for 3 months.
This means you can generate images for almost 3 months without spending a single cent! )

You can read more here:
👉 docs.cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features

Just set up billing — and that's it.

So it is really easy and free to start using banapi.art!

While I'm finishing up a huge update, here's a quick video showing how simple the Banapi workflow is.

Working on a huge update for Banapi!
I hope I'll release it soon 🍌

Almost done with the big Banapi walkthrough video, so the new release is very soon! 🤞

🍌 Banapi Open Beta is LIVE!

The massive v0.2.0 update is finally here and ready for testing.

Key Features:
ARIA Node: Your AI Art Director for automated reviews and routine tasks.

Nano Banana 2: Native support for Google’s latest Image 3.1 Flash model.

Workflow Tools: Node Grouping and Batch Export for a cleaner, faster experience.

The app remains 100% free—just use your personal Google API key.

📺 Full Walkthrough & Tutorial:
I recorded a deep dive into everything new. Timecodes included!

👉 Watch here: https://youtu.be/o1Q6C6-YGuk
👉 Try Banapi: https://banapi.art

Share Your Feedback:
Please feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, or any bugs you find here. Your feedback is crucial for the development of this project!

P.S. This was my first time recording a walkthrough. It’s incredibly exhausting and time-consuming. I have no f#%king idea how bloggers do this every day! And sorry for that AI voice and for such a long video 😂

I’m also attaching the demo project file from the video. I figured it might be interesting for some of you to see how everything is set up!

🔑 Short "How-to" Setting up API keys with Google AI Studio and Welcome Credit.

Cooking a new node 📷

A small Tip:
If you connect an image to ARIA and simply specify the number of output images without adding a task prompt, ARIA will create a short story based on that photo.

Alternatively, you can ask it to create a narrative story grid based on this photo within a single image.

🚨Update for the Banapi users!

Google has stopped providing access to image generation models via the welcome credit bonus. ❌

We strongly recommend all users strictly monitor their expenses in Google AI Studio. 📊 You can set a monthly spend cap on the "Spend" page to ensure you don't accidentally exceed your budget. 💳⚙️